The Other Way Around
by writer168
Summary: Uchiha Itachi was a faithful shinobi whose only dream was to bring his little brother home, but he and Shisui had recently been ordered to take down the Usuakari at any cost. If anything, it was impossible. How was he going to bring down chaotic organization led by none other than Uzumaki Naruto, one of the most notorious criminals across the elemental nations?
1. The Usuakari

A man with eyes the color of the deep sea stared on in discontent. The person chained to the chair in front of him was being just _so _uncooperative. The prisoner's fingers were broken, his left eye had a senbon punctured through it, his entire right leg had been completely shattered, and both his shoulders had been dislocated.

"Won't you just give me the information?" the man sighed, rubbing the white mask that covered the bottom half of his face, "You've been here for days and really, I'm starting to get rather annoyed. And once I get annoyed, I start to get angry. My, what do you have to live for? Konoha? That village will always be a place for the weak, especially with that fool of a leader you have."

"Don't speak of the Hokage that way!" the captive snarled. The man was unfazed, merely plucking a kunai from his holster and eyeing it thoughtfully.

"Now, now, no need to be brash. We're all friends here, aren't we?"

"You're a traitor to the village." growled the captive, "Ten years ago, _you_ murdered the Third Hokage and left the village, taking various forbidden scrolls with you! _You_ orchestrated the Uchiha clan massacre! _You_ planned the destruction of over half the village! _You_\- GAH!"

The man plunged his kunai in the prisoner's stomach and yanked the senbon from his eye at the same time. His eyes shone with something absolutely predatory.

"I know my accomplishments were nothing short of amazing, Kiba-kun, but let's stay on topic, shall we? Good. Now where were we... ah yes. The annoyance you've riled up within me. Are you going to do something about it, like give me the information I want, or are you going to get me angry?"

Kiba held his tongue and stared upwards maliciously, causing the man to smirk.

"Oho, such brilliant determination. I like that in a shinobi- I really do. I'll tell you what. I'll let you crawl back to the pathetic village you've sworn your allegiance to. tell them about my organization, the Usuakari, and tell them about the members you've seen during your... pleasurable stay here. I'm sure that they're going to like that. And yes, and one more thing."

The man leaned in close to Kiba's ear.

"Tell your Hokage that he'll see much more of Uzumaki Naruto, _dattebayo._"

* * *

_Itachi knew that something was wrong. He could just __**feel**__ it. The thirteen year old made haste to the Uchiha Compound. It was late at night and he had just gotten back from a mission. The closer he came to the compound, the more worried he got. Where were all the chakra signatures? Why couldn't he sense anyone in the compound? Where were they?! Once Itachi stepped in the compound, his entire body froze._

_People were dead on their doorsteps and blood bathed the streets. A... massacre...?_

_"Sasuke!" Itachi exclaimed. He ran past numerous bodies and burst through the doors of his house. A soft sobbing could be heard in the tea room and he ran there first. His mother and father were face down in puddles of their own, still fresh blood. Sasuke, Itachi's eight year old brother, was pressed against the far wall with his head buried in his arms. Itachi rushed over to his small body and brought him in for a tight hug._

_"Sasuke... Sasuke, it's alright..." he murmured, "We'll find out who did this... don't worry..."_

_Sasuke cried for a few more seconds before abruptly stopping and looking up at his older brother with a strange glint in his eyes._

_"Sasuke...?"_

_A grin stretched over the little boy's face._

_"Just kidding~"_

_Before Itachi knew it, he was on his back, a tanto plunged in his stomach and his beloved baby brother standing over him with a mocking stare._

_"Guess we won't have to find out who did this, eh, aniki?"_

_Itachi's eyes widened unbelievingly as Sasuke took out another kunai, this time a poison - tipped one, and drove it into his collarbone. Itachi was far too consumed by shock to respond._

_"Sa... Sasuke...?"_

_"Naruto said that we can't kill you because it would be more beneficial to us for you to be alive in the future. I don't exactly agree with that logic, but I guess you can make the argument. I mean, I already killed the rest of the clan, save for Shisui. You and him being alive means nothing in the grand scheme of things." the boy sighed. Itachi said nothing, his eyes still deathly wide and his skin becoming even paler. Sasuke rolled his eyes._

_"What's with the look? Oh what, you're surprised?" Sasuke questioned. He laughed harshly, full-throated and open, "That's rich! Well, I have to leave soon. The poison in your system will go away within a week, and until then, you'll be in a coma. It's one of Sakura's specialties, so I know it's going to work. But for now..."_

_Sasuke's eyes gleamed red._

_"__**Mangekyo Sharingan!**__"_

Itachi shot up from his bed, sweat dripping from every inch of his body. He buried his head in his hands and leaned back against the wall. Damn, why was he having these dreams all of a sudden? But he already knew the answer to that one. The murder of his clan, conducted by none other than his beloved younger brother, had left a wound so deep in him that he would remember every detail of that tragic night no matter how hard he would try to forget.

And that night was a whole decade ago.

That night, Sasuke left the village along with seven other children. Itachi should have seen this coming, though. Sasuke had always been a more talented genius than he had ever been or ever will be. And he was fine with that. The only thing he wished he could done other than keep Sasuke in the village was that he should've seen all the _signs_.

Sasuke had begun to come home late ever since he started attending the Academy at five years old. Itachi and his parents thought that he was out training with his friends and thought nothing more of it. Kami, they should've been more careful. Upon entering the Academy, Sasuke had already obtained the three pronged sharingan. Itachi could even remember at one point when Sasuke snuck into one of the Uchiha clan meetings.

_The boy was sitting up in the rafters in the corner of the ceiling. He was completely obscured by a shadow, but his sharingan shone brightly as he surveyed every Uchiha in the room. Itachi spotted him by complete chance. When their eyes met, Sasuke leaned out of the shadows, gave his older brother a brilliant smile, and disappeared._

There was another time where he could've noticed something wrong was during Sasuke's sixth birthday.

_He invited a handful of his classmates as well as a few kids a year older whom Itachi had never seen before. Itachi sat alone on the couch during the party, observing every one of Sasuke's friends. First, his eyes landed on Uzumaki Naruto._

_He was all smiles as he laughed at nearly everything. Even with the Kyuubi sealed in his stomach and the weight of the people's hatred on his shoulders, it was a wonder that he could stay this cheerful. The next person Itachi looked at was Haruno Sakura. She was mostly silent during the party and had blank eyes, but she allowed herself a tilt to her lips whenever someone made a joke. Sakura was civilian born, if Itachi wasn't mistaken, yet her excelling knowledge of nearly every subject was unparalleled._

_Sometimes, she engaged in conversation with a boy dressed in a forest green shirt and brown shorts. His arms were wrapped in bandages until his elbows, and his pitch black braid swung slightly at his hips. His name was Rock Lee, Itachi eventually heard. Rock Lee looked rather serious and stone - faced for a seven year old, but if he was Sasuke's friend, he was Sasuke's friend. Itachi didn't have any right to immediately judge the boy._

_There were also two Hyuuga's at the party. One was the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata. She was her same, boisterous self and teased Sasuke until a blush overtook his entire face. It was rather endearing to watch, especially when Neji joined in with even more teasing. There was a pale boy beside Sasuke who grinned at the scene. His hair was short and straight and everything about his grins and laughs were absolutely genuine. Sai, his name was. And lastly, there was Shikaku's son, Shikamaru. He was half asleep with a dango stick hanging from his mouth. He wasn't being bothered with._

_"Sasuke! Sasuke! It's time to open your presents!" Hinata exclaimed. Itachi stood up from the couch and walked closer to the group of children while still maintaining a respectable distance. The presents he received included blue steel shuriken that returned to him when he summoned it, a set of fuma shuriken, explosive tags, unnamed scrolls (that Itachi was very curious about), and black steel kunai. But the best had yet to come._

_Neji and Lee went into the hallway and came back with a long, wrapped box._

_"This is your real gift, Sasuke." Naruto smiled, "We all pitched in to get it for you."_

_Itachi watched as Sasuke calmly tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside was a beautifully crafted chokuto sword with a tsunami engraved on the black hilt and the silver blade polished to the point where you could see your reflection in it as clear as day. It was also so finely sharpened that merely a whisper of pressure was enough to draw blood._

_"You guys..." Sasuke murmured. Sakura nudged him with her elbow and inclined her head._

_"Test it." she said. The boy grasped the hilt and lifted the sword up to the light to see its luster. Eyes widening in realization, he pulsed chakra through it. Itachi watched in shock and horror as the blade crackled with black lightning._

_Later that night, Itachi discovered that something else had been in the box. It was a white mask that covered the bottom half on one's face, like something Hatake Kakashi would wear, but of slightly thicker material. What really caught Itachi was that the kanji for 'two' was written where the mouth would be. It definitely was strange, but Itachi mentioned nothing to his brother, nor his parents. _

_'I should've done something.'_ Itachi thought bitterly. His sweltering thoughts were soon interrupted with a series of knocks on his apartment door. He sighed and stepped out of his bed in nothing more than a pair of track pants.

"Oi, seriously! Open up, Ita-chan!"

Itachi sighed a second time and went to open the door. His cousin, Shisui, sprung through the threshold with a wide grin on his face.

"Took you long enough my adorable baby cousin! And good timing too. The Godaime wants to the see the both of us- something about Kiba-kun coming back with some information." he said. Itachi nodded, went back inside to pull on a shirt, and followed Shisui through the bustling streets towards the hospital. Orochimaru, the Hokage's right hand, was already waiting for them.

"Good morning, you two." he greeted, "I apologize for calling you so early, but Inuzuka-san, who had just recently returned from his mission, is now fully conscious. He may have some information that you may be interested in. Please, come in. The Hokage's already here."

Jiraiya was indeed already in and had taken up a comfortable seat on the windowsill. Kiba was seat in an upright position on the bed with one of his arms in a sling and a bandage covering his left eyes with Akamaru lying right beside him.

"Now that everyone's here... Kiba, could you please tell us what happened to you?" Jiraiya asked. The eighteen year old took a deep breath.

"I did the assassination like I was told, but I was ambushed on my way back to Konoha. It was those people who destroyed a small village in Wind Country a few weeks back. They wore white cloaks with a blue tsunami embroidered at the bottom. The cloak also had a hood, so I couldn't see their eyes."

An image of Sasuke's sword with the tsunami engraved on the hilt flashed in Itachi's head.

"Their clothes were all black and they had blue armor plates on their shins, arms, and torso. What was weird about them were their masks. They were white and covered the bottom half of their face and had kanji where their mouth would be. The ones who attacked me had the kanji for 'scarlet ink' and 'two'."

Itachi's eyes hardened immediately as Kiba continued his story.

"The organization is called 'Usuakari', or twilight. The people I saw in the organization were Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru, and their leader, Uzumaki Naruto."


	2. A Fool's Decision

Naruto sighed as he plopped down on the edge of a building, uncaring of the heavy rain that thoroughly soaked his hair and his clothes. If only Kiba wasn't there, he wouldn't have gotten blood all over the floor. He sighed a second time. And Sakura would make him clean it up too.

"You have a job to do, Naruto-san."

The aforementioned flopped onto his back and stared at his visitor's serious obsidian eyes.

"Such a sour puss, Lee-kun. Can't I have a little break every once in a while?"

"No."

"Keh! Sakura-chan's rubbing off on you." he scoffed. Hopping back onto his feet, he stretched his arms and stepped under the overhang. Lee followed him, wringing out his braid as he did so. The two walked back into the Usuakari's main base: the tallest tower in the thriving country of Whirlpool. It was one of those rare days when it rained, and Naruto enjoyed taking breaks outside when it did. What could he say? He _loved_ the rain. Once he stepped foot inside, he spread his arms.

"Good afternoon, everyone!"

Sai was the only one in the common room. He looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"Good afternoon, Naruto-san." Sai greeted. He soon returned his attention back to his sketchbook. Naruto sauntered over and leaned over the couch.

"Whoa— is that a geisha?! That looks so cool!" he exclaimed. Lee was far from amused.

"Work. Now." he demanded. Naruto sighed in defeat and let his shoulders droop down.

"Fine, fine! I'm going!"

Naruto begrudgingly made his way to his office with a pout on his face. Lee followed after him, but not before glancing at Sai's work of art himself.

"Nicely done." Lee commented before disappearing through the doorway. Sai grinned happily to himself.

"Thank you."

Luckily, Naruto had made it to his office this time. Sakura was sitting at the edge of the desk, blank eyes roaming over papers on a clipboard. She acknowledged Lee's presence with a minuscule nod before looking at Naruto, who had sunk down in his plush chair.

"We have received news about our contact in Kirigakure. Shigure-san died approximately three days ago for confirmed suspicion of having ties with us. He was tortured for information before cutting the chakra flow from his heart." she informed. Naruto cocked his head to the side.

"Did he tell anything?"

"No."

"Then it's not a problem." he chirped, flashing a bright smile, "Anything else, Sakura-chan?"

"Hinata and Neji have just returned. The Nibi has been contained."

"Good, good. That means we're over halfway there. Two more tailed beasts and we'll have them all. That's _very_ good." Naruto said. Wordlessly, Sakura reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out two marbles. She set it on his desk.

"These were purchased in Kumogakure after the Nibi was captured."

Naruto's eyes brightened up considerably as he picked up the the marbles and held them up to the light. Besides the rain, he absolutely adored marbles. His entire office was lined with shelves that had various unique jars which held equally unique marbles. An odd hobby for an odd occupation if Lee had anything to say about it. Lee glanced at Sakura, asking if there was anything else she had to add. She nodded once and flipped a page on her clipboard.

"Hoshigaki Kisame, one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. Strong, intelligent, gifted. A threat."

Sakura tucked the clipboard underneath her arm and stood up. She slid her eyes towards Naruto.

"Your orders?"

"Leave him be for now, if you encounter him, find a fun way to kill him. I'm sure you two can get a kick out of that." he beamed. Lee and Sakura made their way out of his office. Before Lee strode through the door, he looked over his shoulder.

"Make sure the work is finished or I will have Sasuke-san burn all your ramen."

A shrill cry of 'YOU MONSTER' was heard before Sakura shut the door. The two of them walked side by side in a comfortable silence, the sound of thunder crackling outside and lightening brightening up the hallways every minute or two. Their masks were pulled down and scrunched up at their necks, but the kanji written on them was still visible, Sakura's with _'dark'_ and Lee's with _'dragon'. _As they journeyed to the archives in the next building over, they met with Gaara.

Sakura and Lee took in his rumpled appearance with blank eyes. He always looked at this, fresh from somebody's bed, shinobi and civilian and man and woman alike. Naruto had no complaints with how much he slept around as long as he did his job without hassle. Gaara saluted them with two fingers.

"Yo." he greeted, "Off to do more research?"

"Aa. You are welcome to join if you're finished with your indecent activities." Lee said. Gaara smirked and locked his fingers behind his head.

"Not interested. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a nap for the rest of the day." he grinned. As he sauntered back to the main base, Sakura cast him a look.

"Do not track water into the building."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it, darling."

At the archives, Lee and Sakura seated themselves at one of the grand mahogany tables where all their research from the day before lay right where they had left them. Very few people had clearance in the area, so this place served more as the Usuakari's work room as far as anyone else was concerned.

Ah, the Usuakari. It was a notorious organization that was extremely close to its eighth birthday. Those who knew about them never spoke about them. Their name was like taboo in the underground circuits and could strike fear into the hearts of the strongest men if it was even whispered. Those who didn't know about them were lucky to not have to constantly watch their backs or be careful of every single syllable that flew out of their mouths. And those who involved themselves with the organization, and brave, insane souls they were, had stepped through the doors of hell and locked it behind them whilst throwing away the key.

The Usuakari was a madhouse with an extremely powerful man at its helm. With Naruto's power came his madness, one that was shared amongst the members of his organization. They're crazy and they at least know that much about themselves. The sad part was that they were only kids but with a taste for chaos and an eye for spilling blood.

One could say that they were very much truly psychotic.

But they would only smile and reply '_Why, we already know.'_

A frightening bunch, they were. Not counting their leader, there were nine of them, each of unsound mind and each deserving of a one way ticket to the nearest asylum. They knew that. Everyone knew that. But no one dared to try because they knew it was impossible to stand up to people like them.

_Who in all the cosmos could be so stupid?_

::

"I'm going after them."

"Ita-_chan_, think this through!" Shisui sighed exasperatedly, "You heard what Inuzuka-kun said! The Usuakari! We haven't even heard of this organization until an hour ago! Not only that, it's led by Uzumaki Naruto, the devil himself! Don't you remember what happened? He killed the Sandaime _single-handedly_, planned for our clan's massacre, and destroyed half the village using his completely controlled KYUUBI CHAKRA!"

Itachi brushed past him and continued packing everything he needed for a mission that could last at least two weeks.

"And you know who else he mentioned? Haruno Sakura! You said it yourself that she was the one who poisoned you and that the poison was encrypted so perfectly that no one could decode it to get you out of the hospital faster. And she was eight at the time!"

Itachi walked over to his desk and perused through scrolls and seals he could take with him on his trip.

"Don't even get me started on Nara Shikamaru, Shikaku's estranged son!"

"Shisui." he interrupted his red-faced cousin, "Believe me, I know what trouble I'm getting into-"

"Do you?! Do you really?!"

"If I can do it I can find Sasuke!" snapped Itachi. Shisui fell silent and looked away from his younger cousin. It was no secret that Itachi still loved Sasuke despite what he had done all those years ago. Even if Konoha as a whole deemed him an immense threat and issued a kill-on-sight status on him, Itachi still believed that Sasuke could be saved. That if he tried hard enough, he could bring his little brother back home. Itachi recollected himself.

"With the Usuakari, I finally have a lead on him. After eight years... I can bring him back. You said it yourself that Naruto planned the massacre. It couldn't have been Sasuke's fault."

Shisui wisely kept his mouth shut. As he watched Itachi strap on his ANBU gear, he groaned and grabbed at his hair.

"Fine! You win! I'm going with you, dammit!"

Back at Konoha Hospital, Kiba watched the people bustle about the place from the window. It was a while until he noticed both Itachi and Shisui clothed in their ANBU garb and were walking towards the gates. He smirked.

"Idiots..."

There were two knocks on his door before Ino strode in in her white doctor's coat. She smiled at him and tapped her clipboard with a pen.

"An entire shattered leg, eh? You're getting better at hurting yourself." she commented. Kiba laughed and patted Akamaru's head.

"Well, you know me." he said. She set the clipboard on a table and took a seat on the stool next to Kiba's bed. She leaned against the wall and crossed both her legs and her arms.

"The room's sealed. What do you have for me, oh masochistic one?"

"I told them what Naruto-san did to me." he shrugged, "They believed it, no sweat. I just saw the Uchihas making their way out of the village probably because of Itachi's drive to find Sasuke. Crazy bastard. Naruto's a better actor too, and he had to go all villain on my ass because someone was watching."

Akamaru barked.

"Oh. Akamaru says that they were Suna shinobi, so I'm guessing the Kazekage knows what happened by now. What about you?"

"Shino's bugs haven't picked up anything from the Hokage's office and Chouji says that the clans have been quiet lately, no fuss. We don't have any juicy information worth handing over to Naruto-san yet, but we're getting there. If his plan goes over smoothly, Konoha will be done for." she smiled. Kiba scoffed.

"This is Uzumaki Naruto we're talking about. It's not if his plan goes smoothly, it's when."

He looked back out the window.

"With Itachi and Shisui doing what they're doing... well, I can guess that this is the last time they'll see Konoha."

::

Jiraiya stared out the window of his office with worry-filled eyes. He had heard accounts of the Usuakari before, but he never imagined how grave the situation was becoming. The eight kids who disappeared after the second time the Kyuubi attacked Konoha... It was them. Unfortunately, it was them. And their leader was the boy he promised Minato he would look after with his life.

"Quite the face, old man. Looks like you've got a few more wrinkles."

He spun around to see a figure lounging on his desk, cloaked and brandishing the kanji for _'two'_ on his mask.

::

As Sakura went through one of the back aisles of the archives, she saw Shikamaru curled up on the ground with a forbidden scroll serving as his pillow. His mask was still on his face, displaying the kanji for _'general'_ written on his lips. She tapped his stomach with her foot.

"This is hardly the place for sleeping. Get up and go home or do research."

Shikamaru pried an eye open and moaned.

"Fine, fine."

He tugged his mask down and stretched his arm over his head.

"So, did Neji and Hinata do the job?"

"Yes. We will begin sealing tomorrow."

Lee was still at the table, writing down notes on anything he could find concerning Hoshigaki Kisame. As of right now, he couldn't make due with what was given. But no matter. If he met a dead end he could always make Neji and Hinata do it for him, seeing as they loved that kind of thing.

A box was placed in the seat beside him and he looked up to see long black hair and a mask with the kanji for _'earth'_.

"Haku." he greeted. Haku smiled and signed him.

_Hello, Lee-san. This box just came in for us. It's filled with the weapons you ordered last week._

"Ah, I see." he answered. He saw the stamp **1010** on the front and whipped out a kunai to pry the top off. Inside the box were various pieces of kunai, senbon, tanto, and others of the like, crafted beautifully. Lee nodded with approval.

"Would you send a letter of thanks? Thank you, Haku."

_You're welcome._

Lee's attention returned to the task before him. Hm. Maybe he really did have to ask Neji and Hinata's help...


	3. Warnings, Warnings, Warnings

"Blasted fool." Kisame murmured, "Moron. Idiot. Dumbass. Halfwit. Imbecile."

He slouched forward against the kubikiribocho blade that punctured a cliff's edge, recently upturned dirt surrounding the cracked steel.

"Asshole. Dipshit. Bastard..."

The sunset on the horizon was pink, orange, and nothing short of beautiful. But it was mocking him horribly. Defiantly. Selfishly.

"I'll kill all of them, Zabuza. Every last one of them. The Usuakari will fall and your death won't be in vain."

The bushes rustled behind him and Itachi stepped out, bruised and scarred and messily wrapped bandages covering his wounds. He inclined his head towards Kisame.

"Shisui found a trail that will lead us to some of the Usuakari members. Are you ready to go, Hoshigaki-san?"

::

Kankuro was crumpled on the floor, unconscious, and losing his pulse by the second. Sprinkles of sand dusted his body and continued down the hallway into the Kazekage's office. There, Temari sat at her desk with tears streaming down her face and her resolve crumbling bit by bit. Gaara, amused by the whole situation, leaned against the wall with a cheeky grin on his face.

"What's the matter, _nee-chan_?"

Suddenly, he slammed the palm of his hand against her desk, making her flinch. He leaned in close to her ear.

"Never seen a man turned inside out before?" he whispered, gesturing to the pink, bloodied mass on the ground, "_While he was still screaming?_"

::

"Oh, they're following the trail we laid out for them!" Sasuke exclaimed giddily, "That was pretty quick. And Kisame, man, he must be furious! Neji-chan and Hinata-chan really did a number on that Zabuza guy. What do you think, Sai-chan?"

Sai looked up from his sketchbook and chuckled nervously.

"They might be a bit of trouble, but nothing we can't handle." he said. He dipped his brush in a deep red liquid before continuing to paint again, "I've actually been looking forward to replenishing my _ink_ supply."

::

"Man, how troublesome." Shikamaru yawned. "That was the most boring climax to a fight I've ever seen!"

_You shouldn't have gotten your hopes up._ Haku signed, _The Rokubi wasn't a high ranking tailed beast. We've already obtained the harder ones._

"You're right. Come on, let's get him back. Naruto'll be happy."

_You're carrying him._

"Huh?! Tch, what a drag. You're lucky you're pretty."

::

The stares of those two were unsettling. Their eyes were blank and burned into his skin like pure acid, but it was nothing compared to the way Naruto was looking at him. Naruto was grinning like a complete idiot, happy and cheerful as he sat on his desk. Blood clung onto him like a second skin, staining his clothes and seeping into his hair.

"Isn't this great, Jiraiya?" he asked. The aforementioned sat still in his iron seat in the center of the grand office. Angry raindrops smashed against all the windows and thundered roared with a lion's ferocity.

"It's just the four of us. Sakura-chan, Lee-kun, me, and you. This'll be fun, don't you think?" he chirped. At that moment, a tanuki appeared in the room with a scroll attached to its backside. Sakura strode over silently and unrolled the paper.

"Gaara has reported in." she deadpanned. Naruto leaned forward eagerly and Jiraiya tensed, preparing for the worst.

"The Kazekage is dead."

**:: Nine Days Before the First Incident ::**

"... I take it that I'm supposed to know who you are." Jiraiya said. His eyes flickered towards the door and saw a paper seal slapped on the wood, making sure that no one got in, no one got out, and no one could hear a single word from the room they were standing in. A quick glance towards the windows told him that he couldn't use that escape route either. Nearly every inch of the glass was covered in snake summons.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you." the stranger informed happily, "It's not my place. If anything, it's Naruto's job to make sure you're absolutely positively flat-line dead."

He tensed.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke clapped before sliding down his mask and removing his hood. He spread his arms out in a grand gesture.

"Give the man a prize!" he crowed, "He has more than half a brain and a sense of perception to astound for miles!"

He hopped off the desk and placed his hands on his hips, lips twisted in a mocking grin.

"I only came here to give you a message from the boss man himself. I think it's pretty straight forward, so I don't think you'll have any problem understanding it."

Sasuke plopped down in the Hokage's chair, kicking his feet up to rest on the wooden desk. His eyes were spinning; depths of red that suffocated with a single look. Jiraiya looked at him helplessly, wondering what had gone wrong. What had turned Sasuke into such a person. What had driven him so far that he had turned against his own at such a young, tender age.

"In nine days time, nine lives will be tried. A brother loses a sister. A friend loses a friend. A teacher loses his being. A wanderer loses his soul. A survivor loses the other. And finally, a man learns the truth before losing it all."

"And what am I to do about it?" Jiraiya asked cautiously. Sasuke smiled.

"Nothing. I'm only telling you this because you're one of the nine."

He pulled on his hood and slipped up his mask before fluttering his fingers at the surprised Godaime.

"Better say your goodbyes, old man, and don't say I never did anything for you. Toodles!"

::

"Personally, Beastie gives the most boring fucking missions ever. But I have to give him credit this time. I think we'll actually have some fun with this! Finally!" Hinata exclaimed. She took off her mask and gazed at the bloodstains that covered it, the red spreading to even the kanji that spelled out the word _'east'_. Her partner, Neji, nodded in agreement.

"No kidding." he mused, his own mask depicting the kanji for _'west'_, "But you know how it's been lately. We can't cause too much trouble because we have most of the tailed beasts and we can't afford a screw up."

Hinata scoffed.

"Screw up? Name one time we ever screwed up on Naruto-sama's, hell, even Pinky's watch! We do things the messy way, but we ain't that sloppy. Art Hoe and Saucy-chan do some pretty neat work but tend to get off task, Slackass always needs Cookie there to make him do shit, and Fuckboy's, well... Fuckboy. I guess he listens to either Beastie or Pinky."

Neji scratched the back of his head.

"Geez, your nicknames are getting worse..."

"Shut the hell up, Superiority Complex."

::

"This is bad." Temari muttered as she paced around in her office, "The Usuakari had kidnapped and tortured a Konoha shinobi for information and had completely overpowered him... What's going to stop them from going for one of us?"

She turned to the subordinate that informed her of this development.

"Spread the word about Uzumaki Naruto. If him or any other one of those Usuakari members are spotted, do not engage. I won't lose any of my people to the likes of _them_."

The subordinate bowed her head.

"Hai, Kazekage-sama!"

Once she left the room, Temari sank into her chair with a prolonged sigh. Kankuro walked from his spot near the windows and sat at the edge of her desk. His eyes were dull and his tongue was reluctant.

"The... The Usuakari... You know _he's_ with them."

She sighed a second time.

"Yes, I know." she drew a deep breath, "But we can't pardon him for his actions. After what he did to Father and the council, there is no other course of action in dealing with him. We may be on the course of possibly forgiving him, but the people aren't. They never will."

Kankuro shut his eyes.

"I understand."

**:: Seven Days Before the First Incident ::**

They met up with two Kiri shinobi who had similar goals to the both of them: find the Usuakari. Konoha had no particular qualms with Kirigakure and were actually very close to a peace treaty. Shisui found it a splendid idea to join forces, as the two they stumbled upon were Hoshigaki Kisame and Momochi Zabuza, two of the_ Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shuu_. Besides, the more of them, the more power, right?

Currently, the four were seated around a map of the Elemental Nations, Itachi with a red pen in hand. X's were clustered far southeast of Konohagakure and around the Yugakure area.

"There's a higher possibility of coming across the Usuakari in Fire Country rather than in Hot Springs Country. The sightings have risen 30% in the last five weeks, making it a 70% chance we'll see them. An abnormally high chance for us. We'll rest here for the night and continue in the morning."

Shisui nodded and stood up while stretching his arms over his head.

"Sounds good enough to me. I'll go out to catch some food."

Zabuza stood up as well.

"I'll accompany you."

Kisame watched the two retreat into the dense forest that surrounded them before casting a curious glance his companion's way. Uchiha, was it? One of the two survivors? It had to be with those freaky red eyes. He was a young one, at that.

"If you don't mind my askin', what's your reason for going after the Usuakari?" Kisame questioned. Itachi sat back against the trunk of a tree and stared wistfully at the darkening blue above.

"... My... brother is part of the organization. I'm seeking him out." he replied. Kisame's eyes bugged out of his head.

"Your brother is _the_ Uchiha Sasuke?" Kisame whistled, "Damn. My condolences."

The two went through a small whisper of silence before Itachi spoke up.

"And yourself?"

"The Yondaime Mizukage was taken not too long ago. Two of them just appeared out of nowhere, grabbed him, and disappeared all right in his office. We arrived too late and Usuakari was written on his desk in blood. A lot of people believe that he's still alive, but... I'm not too sure. Yagura-sama is strong, but the guys that took him had to be crazy powerful too. Zabuza and I are one of the search parties."

::

Gaara was stretched out on the couch in nothing but his boxer briefs. Sai was sitting across from him, a red colored pencil between his pale, nimble fingers as he started down at his sketchbook intently. He only ever did his art with the color red. Be it clay, pencil, chalk, paint, crayon, marker, sand, or pastel, it had to be red. He was particularly picky about his ink- the one he completed his jutsu with. It had to be a certain kind of read. Something rich and ever flowing when it was still wet and gleaming.

His supply was running low, though. He had to remember to restock.

"How far are you anyways?" Gaara whined, "I want to move!"

Sai rolled his eyes and turned his sketchbook around for Gaara to see. Only his outline had been drawn.

"What the hell is that?! I've been here for _hours_!"

"You've been there for five minutes."

"Same thing!"

He pouted and relaxed against the couch. There could be a million things he could be doing, _a million other people he could be doing_, and here he was. At home. On a Saturday, nonetheless. Or...

His eyes lit up mischievously as he gazed at Sai with seductive, half-lidded eyes.

"Hey Sai, you know this couch is big en-"

"I'm not sleeping with you." Sai replied without looking up. Gaara had the audacity to look offended.

"Who doesn't want to sleep with me?! Man, you suck."

"Not as much as you do on Friday nights."

Gaara opened his mouth to retort, but considered the remark and re-positioned himself on the couch with a nod. Fair point. Sasuke then came waltzing into the room with a big grin on his face as he took a seat next to Sai.

"We're in luck, Sai-chan! Apparently, my cute aniki is hot on the organization's trail and Naruto-chan wants us to give them a little lesson, if you know what I'm sayin'. We can leave after you're done with your drawing." Sasuke said. Gaara's sea green eyes flickered over to the newcomer.

"Sas-"

"I'm not sleeping with you."

Forgetting about his modeling position, he threw his hands up in the air with a frustrated growl.

"You guys spend so much time being fucking prudes!"

"Not as much time as you spend on your knees."

Gaara wilted. Another fair point.

::

Kiba was finally allowed out of the hospital, but he wasn't allowed out on another mission for two whole weeks. He was devastated when Ino gave him the news. What the hell was he supposed to do for two weeks?! He couldn't train because of his damned leg, and at best, he could limp around Konoha and trip over everything because of his fucked up depth perception!

Akamaru barked.

"Good idea, boy! I could go visit Shino! The bastard didn't even visit me in the hospital but I guess that's alright." Kiba said. Armed with two crutches, he wobbled down the streets until he saw who he was looking for through the window of a weapon's shop. He pulled the door open.

"What's up, Shino? Watching the shop for Ten?"

Shino looked up from the book in his hands.

"Yes." he replied, "There was a shipment of materials she went to pick up at the post office. She'll be back in... approximately three minutes."

Kiba leaned against the counter.

"Materials? Is it for them?" he asked. Shino nodded.

"Lee put in an order for special made wire strings and, for some odd reason, flails. Tenten was able to find a sustainable amount of rare metal in Tea Country for the weapons. I still don't know what purpose they have for using a _flail_." he added. The Usuakari always had this weird thing for using and collecting any and all weapons they learned of or came across. Kiba must have said something along the lines of that aloud because Akamaru began growling at the door.

"You two... you two are traitors!" someone hissed. Kiba looked over his shoulder. Kabuto was standing in the doorway with a fist clenched at his side and his teeth bared in aggression. Shino turned a page in his book.

"Oh?" he said, "And what are you going to do about it?"

"You-!"

Kabuto suddenly stopped and slowly looked down at his chest. A blade gleamed at him, coated in his blood with some spitting out from the sides of the puncture. It was soon yanked out of him and he fell forward, revealing a slightly irritated Tenten standing behind him.

"I leave you alone for fifteen minutes, _fifteen_, and you two manage to get caught up in trouble. Again! Do I need to hire a babysitter for the both of you?!"

She stepped over the body and set the box she was carrying on the counter. She pointed at Shino.

"You can empty this box and catalog everything that's inside." she directed before turning to Kiba, "And you can get rid of that body and clean up the floor before it becomes a stain, got that? And my floor better be sparkling or I'll break that other leg."

Kiba grumbled to himself. It wasn't like it was going to hurt him anyways.


End file.
